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The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railway that opened in London in 1900. Today, the CLR's tunnels and stations form the central section of the London Underground's Central line.
The railway company was established in 1889, funding for construction was obtained in 1895 through a syndicate of financiers and work took place from 1896 to 1900. When opened, the CLR served 13 stations and ran completely underground in a pair of tunnels for 9.14 kilometres (5.68 mi) between its western terminus at Shepherd's Bush and its eastern terminus at the Bank of England, with a depot and power station to the north of the western terminus. After a rejected proposal to turn the line into a loop, it was extended at the western end to Wood Lane in 1908 and at the eastern end to Liverpool Street station in 1912. In 1920, it was extended along a Great Western Railway line to Ealing to serve a total distance of 17.57 kilometres (10.92 mi).
After initially making good returns for investors, the CLR suffered a decline in passenger numbers due to increased competition from other underground railway lines and new motorised buses. In 1913, it was taken over by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL), operator of the majority of London's underground railways. In 1933 the CLR was taken into public ownership along with the UERL. (Full article...)
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Sir Charles Herbert Bressey CB, CBE (3 January 1874 – 14 April 1951) was a civil engineer and surveyor who specialised in road design. Bressey was Chief Engineer for Roads at the Ministry of Transport from 1921 to 1938. Between 1935 and 1938 he carried out research on road planning and motorway design in preparation for his Highway Development Survey, 1937 for Greater London published in 1938. He served as President of the Institution of Chartered Surveyors in 1938-9.
During World War I, Bressey served in the Royal Engineers and spent time in France and Flanders constructing military roads attaining the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel before he left the army in November 1919, when he joined the Ministry of Transport. His 1938 report proposed a series of high capacity motorways radiating outwards from the city and made recommendations for a series of circular routes around the capital and major road improvements in the central area, including tunnels under Kensington Gardens, Victoria Park and Islington High Street and a viaduct from Rotherhithe to Forest Hill. Although World War II delayed the implementation of any of the recommendations, they were subsequently featured in a number of post war reports such as Sir Patrick Abercrombie's County of London Plan and the Greater London Council's 1960s London Ringways scheme and were the origins of plans that were later combined to create London's orbital motorway, the M25. (Full article...)
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Image 1Helicopter landing at London Heliport, a jetty constructed in the River Thames in Battersea.
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Image 3Ruislip Lido Railway's 12-inch (300 mm) gauge locomotive "Mad Bess" hauling a passenger train.
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Image 5Vauxhall Bridge across the River Thames opened in 1906 and features sculptures by F. W. Pomeroy.
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Image 6The Circle routes of Victorian London, comprising the Inner Circle, Middle Circle, Outer Circle and Super Outer Circle.
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Image 7Qantas Boeing 747-400 about to land at Heathrow Airport, seen beyond the roofs of Myrtle Avenue, Hounslow.
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Image 8The south façade of King's Cross railway station London terminus of the East Coast Main Line.
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Image 10Sailing ships at West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in 1810. The docks opened in 1802 and closed in 1980 and have since been redeveloped as the Canary Wharf development.
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Image 11London Underground Battery-electric locomotive L16 designed to operate over tracks where the traction current is turned off for maintenance work.
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Image 12Day (left) and Night (right) sculptures by Sir Jacob Epstein on the London Underground's headquarters at 55 Broadway.
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Image 14Central London Railway poster, published in 1905.
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Image 15Albert Bridge, opened in 1873, crosses the River Thames between Chelsea and Battersea.
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Image 17Clapham Common Underground station north and south-bound platforms on the Northern line.
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Image 18Preserved AEC Routemaster coaches in London Transport Green Line livery.
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Image 19Arguably the best-preserved disused station building in London, this is the former Alexandra Palace station on the GNR Highgate branch (closed in 1954). It is now in use as a community centre (CUFOS).
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Image 21Hammersmith Bridge, opened in 1887, crosses the River Thames in west London.
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Image 23Original stations on the Metropolitan Railway from The Illustrated London News, 27 December 1862.
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Image 24View of Old London Bridge, circa 1632 by Claude de Jongh.
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Image 25The New Routemaster built by Wrightbus has three entrances, two staircases and is designed to be reminiscent of the Routemaster.
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Image 26Rail, road and river traffic, seen from the London Eye.
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Image 27Archer statue by Eric Aumonier at East Finchley Underground station.
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Image 2855 Broadway, headquarters of the UERL and its successors, is a Grade I listed building in Westminster designed by Charles Holden.
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Image 29London General Omnibus Company B-type bus B340 built in 1911 by AEC. One of a number of London buses purchased by the British military during World War I, this vehicle was operated on the Western Front.
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Image 30The newly constructed junction of the Westway ( A40) and the West Cross Route ( A3220) at White City, circa 1970. Continuation of the West Cross Route northwards under the roundabout was cancelled leaving two short unused stubs for the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section.
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Image 31A tram of the London United Tramways at Boston Road, Hanwell, circa 1910.
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Image 32London Underground A60 Stock (left) and 1938 Stock (right) trains showing the difference in the sizes of the two types of rolling stock operated on the system. A60 stock trains operated on the surface and sub-surface sections of the Metropolitan line from 1961 to 2012 and 1938 Stock operated on various deep level tube lines from 1938 to 1988.
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Image 33The original Hampton Court Bridge in 1753, the first of four on the site.
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Image 34Woolwich Ferry boats "John Burns" and "James Newman" on the River Thames, 2012.
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Image 36Planes waiting at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4.
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Image 39Tram 2548 calls at Arena tram stop. This is one of the trams on the Tramlink network centred on Croydon in south London.
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Image 40TX4 London Taxi at Heathrow Airport.
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Image 41Escalators at Westminster Underground station descend between beams and columns of the station box to reach the deep-level Jubilee line platforms.
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Image 42The western departures concourse of King's Cross railway station.
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Image 43Southern approach to the Rotherhithe Tunnel that runs under the River Thames in east London between Rotherhithe and Limehouse.
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Image 45The multi-level junction between the M23 and M25 motorways near Merstham in Surrey. The M23 passes over the M25 with bridges carrying interchange slip roads for the two motorways in between.
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Image 46Early style tube roundel in mosaic at Maida Vale Underground station.
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Image 48Hornsey Lane Bridge, Archway, more commonly known as "Suicide Bridge".
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Image 49"Boris Bikes" from the Santander Cycles hire scheme waiting for use at a docking station in Victoria.
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